Material treating furnace



Jan. 5, 1932. T. LEWIN MATERIAL TREATING FURNACE Filed June 28, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 JAIL/EN TOF? 7%0/7/6 law/ n.-

TaP/WEK Jan. 5, 1932. 9 L wm 1,839,399

MATERIAL TREATING FURNACE 7200/8: law/n.

Jan. 5, 1932. V LEwlN 1,839,399

NATEliIAL TREATING FURNACE Filed June 28, 1930 a Sheets-Sheet s JW VEN r0 7g Lew/n.

TQQNEK Patented Jan, 5, 1932 UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE TANNIE LEWIN, or UNIVERSITY CITY, MISSOURI, A SIGNOR'TO THE LEWIN METALS CORPORATION, OF EAST ST. LOUIS, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI MATERIAL TREATING FURNACE Application filed June 28,

This invention relates generally to mate-' rial treating furnaces. More particularly, my invention relates to a certain new and useful improvement in furnaces of the type especially adapted for effecting by sweating the extraction of the solder or other readily fusible metal constituents of manufactured products and the like.

Scrap material, as the term is commonly 30 understood, may include manufactured products, such as automobile radiators, receptacles, and the like. whose constituents are very often of dissimilar fusibility, that is, such scrap materials comprisesolder more or less as a constituent of their manufacture, and my invention has for its chief object the provision of a furnace of the type mentioned wherein and whereby especially the solder constituent of such material or scrap may be economically and efliciently extracted and substantially without waste recovered for commercial utilization.

Another object of my inventionis to provide an apparatus for separation of metals or materials of dissimilar fusibility of the character set forth. in which the mass is heated sufficiently to melt or sweat the more easily fused material. the heatedmass being jolted for effecting gravity separation of the fused from the unfusedmaterial. A further object of my invention is to provide a material treating furnace of the traveling hearth or conveyer type, wherein the hearth is jolted at successive points in its travel through the furnace for dislodging from its charge such of the constituents thereof as may at the moment be melted or fused, means being provided for collecting and removing from the furnace the melted or fused 40 material falling through and from the hearth.

And with the above and other objects in view. my invention resides in the novel features of form. construction. arrangement, and combination of parts hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings (three sh'eets),

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a material-treating furnace of my invention,

1930. Serial no. 464,667.

shogving the launder or fused metal outlet side thereof;-

Figure 2 is a similar view of the furnace, showing the opposite side thereof;

Fi ure 3 is an elevational view, partly in section, of the discharge end of the furnace; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view of the fur-' nace hearth taken approximately along the line 4-4, Figure 3.

Referring now more in detail and by reference characters to the drawings, which illustrate a practical embodiment of my invention, A designates the frame of the furnace, which preferably includes opposed rows of longitudinal spaced upright buckstays 1, arranged in transverse pairs, each pair being connected at their tops and hottoms by adjustable tie-rods 2, and each-pair being also intermediately connected by a horizontal transverse strut or hearth-beam 3, as best seen in Figure 3. Along the inside face of each row of buckstays 1, are suitably mounted longitudinal beams 4, the opposed pair of beams 4 at each end of the furnace being extended respectively therefrom, for a purpose presently appearing.

The furnace proper comprises a shell-like structure of suitable refractory material providing a heating or combustion chamber 5,

the ends of the furnace, however, being open I,

for the charging and discharging of the material being treated. Wall plates 6, mounted on the respective beams 4:, support the upstanding side walls 7 of the furnace, and the arch or roof 8 is sprung from and between the tops of the side walls 7, the thrust of the arch being opposed by the buckstays 1, which also bind the furnace structure together. The hearth of the furnace is composed of the upper run of an endless conveyer or carrier B which includes a pair of transversely spaced chains 9 of the articulated link type, the chains 9 being disposed longitudinally in the furnace near the bottom of the respective side walls 7'and connected, preferably at alternate links, by a series of longi tudinally spaced transverse bars or hearth members 10. The respective bars 10 are shiftable one with respect to the other by'reason of the pivotally connected links of the chains 9 and are sulficiently close together or supports 11, preferably detachably resting between suitable clips provided on the cross-beams 3 and each slidably supporting one of the chains 9 for substantially the length of the combustion chamber 5 of the furnace.

The chains 9 are adapted to be trained over corresponding pairs of head and tail sprockets 12, 13, respectively, and their respective lower runs are slidably supportedon a pair of transversely spaced longitudinal track beams 14 disposed between the lower ends of the buckstays 1 and vertically spaced from and in alignment with the beams or upper tracks 11, each beam or track-member 14 being supported on blocks 15 and provided at its opposite ends with down curved portions for guiding the respective chains 9 thereon as best seen in Figures 1 and 2. It will be un derstood that, by varying the blocks 15, the beams 14 may be vertically adjustably shift ed for tensioning the chains 9.

Spaced fromthe charging end of the furnace and journaled in and between the there extended ends of the beams 4, is a head shaft 16 carrying the pair of head sprockets 12, and in like manner there is spaced from the other or discharge end of the furnace and journaled in and between the there extended ends of the beams 4, a tail-shaft 17' carrying the pair of tail sprockets 13. The head shaft 16 has driving connection by means of a chain and sprocket arrangement -18 with a speedreducer 19actuated by a jack-shaft 20 driven through reducing gearing, as shown, by a suitable prime-mover or electric motor 22.

Longitudinally disposed cam-shafts 23, provided respectively on opposite sides of the furnace, are journaled in suitable bearings 24 supported by the adjacent buckstavs 1.

The cam-shaft 23 on the motor side of the furnace is driven from the jack-shaft 20 by a suitable chain-and-sprocket arrangement 25, and this particular shaft 23, in turn, drives, by a chain-and-sprocket arrangement 26, a counter-shaft 26a mounted for rotation on the adjacent side of the furnace, which shaft 26a by means of a chain-andsprocket arrangement 26?) drives a countershaft 260 mounted for rotation on T the other side of the furnace, and a chain-and-sprocket arrangement 26d operatively connects the shaft 260 with the cam-shaft 23 on that side of the furnace, whereby the shafts 23 are actuated in unison. Each cam-shaft 23 has mounted thereon a plurality of longitudinal 1y spaced cams or eccentrics 27 disposed preferably in alternately opposite directions. Each cam 27 is disposed in operative engaging relation with the outwardly projecting end of respective lifter-bars 28 each presented through an aperture 29 provided in the adjacent shell side wall 7, and each having an enlarged or bull-nosed end 30 presented in a suitable pocket 31 provided in the upper face of the respective beams 11 for engagement with the particular chain 9 traveling thereover. The bars 28 are pivotally supported intermediate their respective ends on brackets 32 upstanding from the adjacent beams 4, the enlarged respective ends 30 thereof serving as a counterweight for causing the bars 28 to normally rest in the pockets 31, as best seen in Figure 4. Preferably the bars 28 are disposed transversely the shell A in opposing pair relation, and each pair is actuated in unison on rotation of the pairs of opposite bars 28 for hearth-lifting actuation of their ends 30, which,"rising suddenly out of the pockets 31, lift the chains 9 from the beams or tracks 11, thereby causing the hearth to flex or buckle, as may be said, upwardly across its width.

As the cams 23 revolve, the corresponding lifter-bars 28 follow the respective cams by reason of the excess weight of their chain lifting-ends 30, until the ends 30, respectively, retire into the pockets 31 in the beams 11, the chains correspondingly dropping and impinging the beams 11 with a pounding jarring effect, which serves effectually to dislodge the melted matter from the mass of the charge. Such dislodged material drops through and between the spaced hearth members 10, which latter, it Will be seen, serve in able heating means, as will soon appear, the

fused material is maintained in fluid state sufficiently for flow thereof through the launders C laterally to the outside of the fur nace, the residue of the charge being discharged from the hearth-conveyer at an end of the furnace shell A.

The launders C are transversely disposed between the upper and lower runs of the chains 9 and are contiguously arranged for forming, as may be said, a hopper-bottom for the furnace. Each. launder C includes a flared hopper 33 conjoined to its neighbor and supported by and between the beams 3 and 4, as may be most convenient. The bottom of each "hopper 33 slopes downwardly from one side of the furnace to the other,

as best seen in Figure 3, and terminates in a spout 33' accessibly presented outwardly a able burners 34: presented through the walls 7 over the hearth B. At the feed end of the furnace, the opposite burners 34 are each supplied with fuel from respective mixers 35. The other burners 34, however, are connected with respective manifolds 36 disposed on opposite sides of the furnace-shell, each manifold being supplied with fuel by respective mixers 37. In this manner, the cold charge is rapidly brought to the required temperature on entering the furnace and economically maintained at such temperature while passing through the furnace.

The launders C are also each provided .with a burner 38 supplied from a manifold 39 disposed on the spout side of the furnace,

the burners 38 each playing a flame up the respective spouts 33 for maintaining the fluidity of the fused metal to facilitate the discharge thereof from the furnace.

As a practical example in the use and opera'tionnof the furnace, I will describe the treatment of automotive radiator cores, which usually consist of brass or copper body portions united by lead or like soldering material. boththe lead and the brass or copper having a commercialvalue.

The furnace being suitably fired, the material to be treated is charged on the conveyer B, which, being actuated at a speed of travel suitable for the purpose, transports or carries the charge through the furnace. During such movement, the whole charge is heated, and the temperature thereof is main tained such as to melt the more fusible substance or substances of the charge, in this case. the lead of the radiator cores.

However, on heating such a radiator core, the melted lead runs together in globules or drops. which cling to the unmelted portions of the charge, and hence, in order to overcome such property of coalescence and atthe same time permitkthe employment of such a relatively low temperature as to obviate any accruing damage to the brass or copper content of the charge, I-cause the charge on the hearth to be jolted or jarred for dislodging the globules or drops of melted metal from the unmelted portion of the charge.

This jolting of the charge is accomplished by the hearth-lifting actuation of the bars 28 and the following pounding efi'ect given when the chains 9 fall back on the beams 11. The dislodged melted material falls by gravity through the hearth B, that is, between the bars 10. into the launders C, which are kept heated sufiicient-ly for the purpose by the flames from the respectiveburners 38, the melted material flowing from the spouts 33' preferably into suitable removable molds,

although other means may be employed for disposing the melted product, as may be desired. The brass or copper residue of the radiator cores, that is, the less fusible material, is discharged from the end of the furnace A as the chain-hearth B travels over the tail-sprockets 13.

It will hence be seen that my new furnace accomplishes its objects in a highly efficient, practical, and economical manner, and it is to be understood that changes and modifications in the manner of use, and in the form, construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts of the furnace-may be made and substituted forthose herein shown and described without departing from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention. what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1s:

1. In combination, a shellprovidingatreating-chamber, a traveling hearth including a plurality of pivotally connected members disposed in said chamber, and means including oscillatory members for intermittently flexing said hearth at successive points ofits travel in said chamber.

2. In combination, a shell providing a treating-chamber, a traveling hearth including a plurality of pivotally connected members disposed in said chamber, supporting members on which said hearth-members travel, and means including a plurality of members spaced along said supporting members and adapted to rise thereabove for jolting engagement with said hearth-members at successive points of their travel in said chamber.

3. In combination, a shell providing a treating-chamber, a traveling hearth including a plurality of pivotally connected members disposed in said chamber, supporting members on which said hearth members are adapted to travel, and means including a plurality of oscillatory members presented through the walls of said chamber, each of said oscillatory members having a part adapted to rise above said supporting member for jolting engagement with said hearth members.

4.- In combination, a shell providing a treating-chamber. a traveling hearth includheating-chamber, a hearth disposed for travel in said chamber, the hearth including a series;

of pivotally connected members, means'for causing the hearth to travel in said chamber, and means for jolting the hearth at spaced points in and during its travel in said chamber. 1

6. In combination, 1 a shell providing a treating-chamber, a 'tr'ackway in said chamger, a hearth comprising a series of pivotally onnected members disposed for travel on the trackway, means for causing the hearth to travel on the trackway, and means for joltably shifting the hearth relatively to the trackway at spaced points in and during its travel in said chamber.

7 In combination, a shell providing a treating-chamber, a trackway in said chamber, a hearth including a bed of pivotally connected members disposed for travel on the trackway, means for causing the hearth to travel on, the trackway, and means including a series of opposing pairs of oscillatory members adapted for engagement with said hearth for joltably shifting the hearth at spaced points in and during its travel in said chamber.

8. In combination, a shell providing a treating-member, a trackway in the chamber, a hearth including a plurality of pivotally connected members disposed for travel onthe trackvvay, means for causing the hearth to travel on the trackway and means including a series of spaced cam-actuated oscillatory members adapted for intermittent lifting engagement with said hearth for joltably shifting the same at successive points in and dur ing its travel in said chamber.,

9. In combination, a shell providing a treating-chamber, a trackway in the chamber, a hearth including a plurality of pivotally connected members disposed for travel on the trackway, means for causing the hearth to travel on the trackway, and means for alternatcly lifting and dropping the hearth from and on the trackway at successive points of and during its travel in said chamber.

10. In combination, a' shell providing a treating-chamber, a trackway in the chamber, a hearth including a plurality of pivotally connected members disposed for travel on the trackway, means for causing the hearth to travel on the trackway, and means including a series ofspaced members adapted to rise above the plane of the trackvvay for alternately lifting and dropping the hearth from and on the trackivay at successive points in and during its travel in said chamber.

11. In combination, a shell providing a treating-chamber, an interrupted trackway in the chamber, a hearth including a plurality of pivotally connected members disposed for travel on the trackway, means for causin #5 the hearth to travel on the trackway, an

means including members normally disposed in the interruptions of the trackway for joltably shifting of hearth relatively to the track- Way at spaced points in and during its travel in said chamber.

12. In combination, a shell providing a treating-chamber, a trackway in the chamber, the trackway being provided with a series of spaced interrupting pockets, a hearth including a plurality of pivotally connected members disposed for travel on the trackway, means for causing the hearth to travel on the trackway, and meansincluding a series of spaced oscillatory members normally having portions disposed in said pockets for joltably shifting the hearth relatively to the trackway at spaced points in and during its travel in said chamber.;

13. In combination, a shell providing a treating-chamber, a trackway in the chamber,

the trackway being provided with a series of spaced interrupting pockets, a hearthincluding a plurality of pivotally connected mem- .bers disposed for travel on the trackway,

means for causing the hearth to travel on the-trackway, and means for joltably shifting the hearth relatively to the trackway at spaced points in and during its travel in said chamber, said means including a series of osdisposed for travel on the trackvvay, means for causing the hearth to travel on the track- Way, means for joltably shifting the hearth 1 at spaced points in and during its travel in said chamber, and means including a series of obliquely disposed .launders discharging to a side of. the shell located under the hearth for collecting matter falling through the 1' hearth. I A

15. In combination, a shell providing a heating-chamber, atrackway in the chamber, an apertured joltable hearth disposed for travel on the trackway, means for causing the 1 hearth to travel on the trackway, means for joltably shifting the hearth at spaced points in and during its travel in the chamber, means including a series of obliquely disposed launders discharging to a side ofthe shell and located under the hearth for collecting matter falling through the hearth, and means for directing-a heatingflameupon the dischargingtface of the respective launders.

In testimony whereof, I have signed -my 125 name to this specification.

- TANN IE LEWIN 

